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It's 12 words and an obvious statement but Steven Gerrard makes it clear as day how important Steven Davis is to him in that time.

The Northern Irishman has been showing incredible form this season after a slow start to life back in Glasgow when he initially rejoined Rangers during the January window.

On first impressions it seemed as if Davis wasn't anywhere near the level of player he was during his highly-successful first period. His passing was off, he wasn't making his usual runs and just didn't seem to be able to cope with the demands of playing for the Ibrox side.

In part, those impressions were right. Not about his capabilities of playing at that level, but his position had changed in the intervening years.

(Image: Rangers FC/Press Association Images)

Many expected him to come in as the playmaking No 10 that Gerrard's team had been crying out for and it was obvious that wasn't working.

A positional change saw him lineup in the 'quarter-back' role and allowed him to dictate the game from a deeper position.

He has often excelled in games from then but perhaps his best performance came on Saturday in the 5-0 thrashing of Aberdeen.

Davis was given a standing ovation as he left the field to be replaced by George Edmundson and no wonder.

He dominated the inexperienced Dons' midfield of Dean Campbell and Lewis Ferguson with neither player able to get near to him.

At one stage, Davis collects the ball from Allan McGregor at the edge of his own box and with nobody in the vicinity, was allowed to travel to the half way line before picking his pass.

(Image: SNS)

With the legs of Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield running Aberdeen into the ground, it left acres of space for Davis to do his thing.

The 34-year-old might not look great on the assist charts but when you look deeper into where the move comes from then you'll generally find it starting with Davis.

Against Aberdeen, Davis attempted 84 passes and 93 per cent of those were accurate with 78 finding their intended target. Considering he didn't play the final 14 minutes of that game, this is particularly impressive.

His partnership with Jack is continuing to blossom with the duo exchanging more than double the amount of passes as Davis and any other Rangers player.

The Northern Ireland captain collected it from Jack 19 times while giving it to him on 20 occassions.

Rangers often struggled last season to break down teams but Davis' awareness of the game allows the Ibrox side to open up more space even when it looks like there is none.

Steven Davis' pass map (Image: Wyscout)

In the stat map above, it shows how Davis played, pinging balls left, right and centre. The blue lines show the passes he completed, the pink are 'key' passes that created goalscoring opportunities and the broken grey is his six misplaced or cut out passes.

It makes for impressive reading for Rangers, particularly when compared to the Dons midfield of Campbell and Ferguson.

The pair attempted just 35 passes between them with Campbell completing 17 of his 19 and Ferguson just 13 of his 16.

Lewis Ferguson's pass map

It might be grossly unfair to be too critical of Ferguson and Campbell given their age and the injury problems around them, but both players have dominated Rangers in the past and it shows how the level has risen for Rangers with Davis controlling the midfield.

Sheyi Ojo was also impressed and said: "“If I had to give him a nickname I would probably call him ‘The General’ because he just knows everything, from where the ball is going to be to really dictating the game.

“As soon as he gets the ball I can make my runs to try and create chances for the team.

“He is a really important player and has shown throughout the season how good he is. We are really delighted to have him.

“He is one of the main leaders in the squad. We have a few leaders in there but Steven Davis is certainly among them.

“His influence is there on the pitch. He dictates the tempo of the game and really takes charge of that midfield and it is just a great pleasure for everyone to play alongside him."